In the old days, fairgrounds would give cigars as prizes for games. The phrase “close but no cigar” means that you were close to succeeding in the game, but you didn’t win the cigar.
As a proverb, it means that even though you did your best or almost had it right, you weren’t completely correct.
English has many proverbs and these are just the tip of the iceberg.
But you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew. So start with these useful English proverbs and sayings and you’ll be using them yourself in no time!
